[quote name='Tyler' timestamp='1333576430' post='950404']And then, gulp, it was our turn… they came right up to the side of the boat… the calf oft times was lifted up by the mama so it could check out the funny looking humans and let us pet them… holy hell… I was fricking petting a grey whale… I cannot tell you what that felt like… amazing, awe inspiring, soul stirring, unreal… I’ll confess I shed a tear of gratitude and joy to be able to experience this first hand… I put my camera down and just lived the moment… Sally got these pics of me…

This would be a wow! Many years ago I watched my son pet Pilot Whales on the way to the San Jaun's while on a friends sail boat as they were racing the bow. A wow.Very cool Tyler Gal, very cool. A Double wow!

Remember half the fun is getting there, and the other half is getting back!

When I think back of following your struggles on Caring Bridge after your accident and now your riding to the Baja.

Kinda weird… there are times like it seems like it was all a bad dream… did that really happen? But I have the scars to prove that it happened so I guess it did.

Amazing Adventure Tyler.

Thanks for sharing

Thanks for following along, honey!

WOW!!!! just WOW!!! This has to be the best ride report i've EVER read...

Many thanks, BigPaz… it takes a lot of work to put this all together so it’s nice that it brings some enjoyment to folks... and maybe inspires them to stfu, make a plan, and go do those things that you always say "some day" about... make it TOday!

The next morning dawned sunny and cool. Today’s adventure was a day ride to the Bay of Concepcion for lunch. We gathered in town before heading out to view the church, San Ignacio Kadakaamán, which was founded in 1728 by the Jesuits, handed over to the Dominicans in 1773 who completed construction in 1786. In the 1800s, the community shrank and the mission fell into disuse and suffered neglect. By the mid-1970s, however, San Ignacio had revived and the mission was carefully restored.

And then we were off like a herd of turtles… Scott in the lead, we traversed some lovely mountain roads with beautiful views of the valleys we would be riding across (road is off to the right there)…

Jim and Scott have a “moment”… I love you, man…

Tons of pelicans flying about…

We stopped in the town of lovely town Mulegé to see the mission there, Mision Santa Rosalia de Mulegé… Founded in 1706, the mission was completed in 1766. The mission has been restored with the help of the government and functions as a Catholic church. It originally served an Indian population of some 2000 persons. Nearby, rocky steps lead up a hill that affords a bird's-eye view over the oasis. Mulegé has become a refuge for American retirees and I can understand how this oasis would draw them there…

Oh my, Jesus could use some upgrading or a haircut or a facial… or something!

Continuing on, we came around a curve in the road and saw the amazingly colored Sea of Cortez glistening in front of us…

While Scott did this…

Sally and I drove further out to get some shots of the bay… it was pretty cool and very windy but the blue of that water was unbelievable!

Nice vacation spot, huh?

The beach we visited… Clyffrd working on his tan…

View from the restaurant…

Cheery floral decorations adorned the tables as Dorothy got ready to make a point… I just hoped that thing wasn’t loaded…

After lunch, and with a little gentle/supportive prodding from Scott, I decided wtf… I’m here at the Sea of Cortez and dammit, I’m gonna take a dip in that ocean… it was a bit unnerving as it was the first time I had exposed myself (so to speak) since the accident… but I knew I was amongst friends so I felt safe to do so… it was kind of odd as most of my legs have no sensation to heat/cold due to the grafts so I couldn’t feel the temperature of the water until it got up to my girl parts… then I found out it was COLD!!! LOL

We dried off as best we could and figured the ride back to San Ignacio would do the rest… Chris on his RT at the beach…

The roads are very well marked with lots of yellow and black along the way warning of these ahead (image borrowed off the internet as I was never able to get a picture of it!) …

Stopping in Santa Rosalía to regroup although it was more like trying to herd cats…

Some hillside fixer uppers…

Curt was having a good time…

Saw some pretty flowers and stopped to take a photo… thank goodness this isn’t scratch & sniff because behind the bikes was a section of land that was a makeshift port-a-potty… without the port-a… I snapped the photo and got out of there right quick… peeYEW!!!

On the way out, I had seen lots of purple patches along the way and made sure I took the time to stop and smell them on the way back… a few like-minded photo bugs and I traipsed off the road just a wee bit and were overwhelmed with a wash of color… you couldn’t really see it from the road but just a few steps in, there is was in all its splendor…

Chris in floral contemplation…

Untimely ladybug demise in the desert… but is any demise timely??

The road ahead…

Another fine day came to a close… we spent the evening chattering on about our escapades, sipping fine wine or good tequila, and chowing down on another scrumptious meal provided by our hosts. Our prior weather adventures getting into Mexico was fading to a distant memory as we all basked in the amazing things we had experienced.. It was gonna be hard to leave this place so I decided not to think about that and just focus on enjoying the “now” moment… it was a brilliant evening.

The next morning we reluctantly packed up our bikes and said goodbye to our new friends. This place and time was magical and I didn’t want to let go of it… but I knew there would be more magic ahead of us so off we went for our day’s destination, Bahia de Los Angeles. There weren’t any places for lunch so we hit the market in Guerrero Negro for snacks and munchies and had an impromptu picnic at a rare turnout on the side of the road.

Desert blooms…

The road ahead…

Scott laying down on the job… I know there are some folks that get all riled up at these photos but you just have to know Scott... cracks me up every time…

Curt wandered into the desert and, unbeknownst to him, came back with a little bit more than he bargained for!

The barbs on this cactus were very deceiving… the barbs on the end are practically invisible but holy hell do they latch on!

A couple of folks donned gloves and duct tape and removed the pesky cacti parts from his jacket and he was good to go. There were some nice sweepers and some fast straights on the way… but we, of course, obeyed the speed limit at all times… that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

We came to a large turnout overlooking Bahia de Los Angeles… the hills behind us were gradated in coloring… kind of reminded me of Death Valley…

Dorothy enjoying the view

Curt thought he was a teapot…

Our hotel for the evening was right across the street from the beach… another fabulous find by the Wades although from what I’d heard, making reservations could be a challenge)… this would be our warmest day of the trip as the temperature hit about 84 degrees…

We were able to park our bikes in the courtyard and away from the street… first things first… frosty beverages!

These guys were making quite a racket on the roof… sounded like they were laughing…

Everyone just sort of kicked back and marched to the beat of their own drummer… some napped, some read, some walked over to the beach to take tourista photos…

One man took his life into his own hands when he thought this would be a funny joke…

Lucky for him, he thought better of the idea and lived to tell the tale… barely…

Dinnertime on the patio with our trusty steeds getting a well deserved rest…

Folks came back to our room for a nightcap… the way this chair was set up, it made me think of getting questioned by detectives in one of those old film noire movies…

Scott was the first one in “The Chair”… I promised I wouldn’t repeat what he confessed…

Curt is new to sport touring… he is semi-retired and normally very quiet and only drinks iced tea… we put a stop to that shit! LOL

And with that, our day came to a close… Sally started talking about how the vacation was almost over but I shushed her right away and said, “We’re still on vacation so let’s not rush to the end!” And so we pushed away the thought of the end of the trip and drifted off to sleep while visions of sugar plums danced in our heads… well, that and margaritas too!

Ai, Ai; beautiful Bahia de los Angeles. The Baja Peninsula is indeed a small world, the Costa del Sol is also the preferred lodging in Bay of LA for we AZ Beemers!

Since you are now North of Santa Rosalia, I can talk freely of Alexandre Gustave Eiffel's famous prefabricated churches; you know him, he built that famous tower on the River Seine in Paris, France! http://www.bajaquest.com/santarosalia/

My Son Seth's Mom Jean and I spent our Honeymoon in French Polynesia for the month of December in 1994; we spent time on the Islands of Bora Bora, Tahiti and Moorea. On Moorea we stopped to check out the local Catholic Church, Jean is a Harley Sportster rider so we both rented Vespa scooters on each of the Islands to do our touring with.

I told Jean I had seen this church many times previously, but in Santa Rosalia of Baja California Sur, Mexico. I spoke to the French Priest of this Moorea Parish and he related to me the history of these prefabricated fully self contained "kit" churches:

Monsieur Eiffel contracted with the Vatican to build these churches for shipment world wide to spread Catholicism in the 1890's, the Pope underwrote their construction and directed to which countries they would be sent. The church in Santa Rosalia was originally intended for a French Colony in West Africa, but a local revolution upset the plans and the church was sent to Mexico for the Parishioners of "El Boleo" instead!